Thursday, 13 June 2013

NSA hacks China Computers, Whistle-blower Snowden claims

U.S.
intelligence agents have been hacking computer networks around the world for
years, apparently targeting fat data pipes that push immense amounts of data
around the Internet, NSA leaker Edward Snowden told the Breeze Magazine on
Wednesday.

Among some 61,000 reported targets of the National
Security Agency, Snowden said, are hundreds of computers in China -- which U.S.
officials have increasingly criticized as the source of thousands of attacks on
U.S. military and commercial networks. China has denied such attacks.

The Morning Postsaid
it had seen documents provided by Snowden but wasunable to verify their
authenticity. The English-language news agency, which operates in Hong Kong,
also said it was unable to independently verify allegations of U.S. hacking of
networks in Hong Kong and mainland China since 2009.

NSA changes

Snowden told the paper that some of the targets
included the Chinese University of Hong Kong, public officials and students.
The documents also "point to hacking activity by the NSA against mainland
targets," the newspaper reported.

The claims came just days after U.S. President
Barack Obama pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping to address cyber attacks
emanating from China that Obama described as "direct theft of United
States property."

Snowden's allegations appear to give weight to
claims by some Chinese government officials that the country has been a victim
of similar hacking efforts coming from the United States.

His claims came as Gen. Keith Alexander, the
National Security Agency chief, testified at a U.S. Senate hearing that the
country's cyber infrastructure, including telephones and computer networks, is
somewhat vulnerable to attack.

On a scale of one to 10, "our critical
infrastructure's preparedness to withstand a destructive cyber attack is about
a three, based on my experience," he said.

In the Morning Post interview -- published one week
after the British newspaper The Guardian revealed the first leaks attributed to
Snowden -- he claimed the agency he once worked for as a contractor typically
targets high-bandwidth data lines that connect Internet nodes located around
the world.

"We hack network backbones -- like huge
Internet routers, basically -- that give us access to the communications of
hundreds of thousands of computers without having to hack every single
one," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

A "backbone" is part of the inner
workings of a computer network that links different parts of that network. It
is used to deliver data from one part of the network to another and, as such,
could expose data from multiple computers if hacked.

'Trying to bully'

Snowden, 29, worked for the Booz Allen Hamilton
computer consulting firm until Monday, when he was fired after documents he
provided to journalists revealed the existence of secret programs to collect
records of domestic telephone calls in the United States and the Internet
activity of overseas residents.

While he has not been charged, the FBI is
conducting an investigation into the leaks, and he has told The Guardian that
he expects the United States will try to prosecute him.

Prosecution for journalists in leak?

Snowden told Breeze Magazine that he felt U.S.
officials were pressuring his family and also accused them of "trying to
bully" Hong Kong into extraditing him to prevent the release of more
damaging information.

He vowed to resist extradition efforts if it comes
to that, saying he "would rather stay and fight the United States
government in the courts, because I have faith in Hong Kong's rule of
law."

"My intention is to ask the courts and people
of Hong Kong to decide my fate," the South China Morning Post quoted
Snowden as saying. "I have been given no reason to doubt your system.''

But Hong Kong lawmaker Regina Ip, a former
secretary of security for the territory, said Tuesday that while any
extradition process could take months, Snowden isn't necessarily beyond the
reach of the United States.

"If he thought there was a legal vacuum in
Hong Kong which renders him safe from U.S. jurisdiction, that is unlikely to be
the case," she said.

The newspaper said Snowden has been hiding in undisclosed
locations inside the semi-autonomous Chinese territory since checking out of
his hotel room Monday -- a day after he revealed his identity in an interview
with The Guardian.

Snowden told the Morning Post he is not trying to
evade U.S. authorities.

"People who think I made a mistake in picking
Hong Kong as a location misunderstand my intentions," the newspaper quoted
him as saying. "I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal
criminality."

The NSA and the National Intelligence director did
not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

Asked during a media briefing on Wednesday for
comment on Snowden's latest claims, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer
Psaki declined. She said she had not seen the latest Morning Post report.

On the defensive

The revelations have renewed debate over
surveillance in the United States and overseas in the name of fighting
terrorism, with supporters saying the programs revealed by Snowden are legal
and have helped stop terror plots. Civil liberties advocates, however, call the
measures dangerous and unacceptable intrusions.

Such criticisms have put Obama and his allies on
the issue -- both Democrats and Republicans -- on the defensive against
mounting criticisms from a similarly bipartisan group of critics demanding
changes to rein in the programs.

There also is a sharp division among Americans over
the issue.

A Gallup poll released Wednesday found that 44% of
Americans believe Snowden did the right thing by releasing details about the
classified surveillance programs, while 42% said it was wrong and 14% said they
were unsure.

The poll for that question had a 6% margin of
error.

It also found that more Americans disapprove than
approve of the government's surveillance programs, 53% to 37%. Ten percent had
no opinion.

The poll for that question had a 4% margin of
error.

Those differences were on display Wednesday when
Alexander, the director of the National Security Agency, testified at a hearing
into cybersecurity technology and civil liberties.

Officials have been unable to explain controversial
data mining programs because they have been classified, Alexander testified.

But Alexander rejected the Snowden's claim that the
NSA could tap into any American's phone or computer.

"I know of no way to do that," Alexander
said.

But he testified that phone records obtained by the
government helped prevent "dozens" of terrorist events.

He would not discuss disrupted plots broadly,
saying they were classified. But he did say federal data mining appeared to
play a role in helping to disrupt a plot in recent years to attack the New York
subway system.

Alexander said information developed overseas was
passed along to the FBI, which he said was able to identify eventual suspect
Najibullah Zazi in Colorado and ultimately uncover a plot. Zazi pleaded guilty
to terror-related charges in 2010.

While not on the roster for Wednesday's hearing,
another administration official in the spotlight is Director of National
Intelligence James Clapper, whom Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden has singled out for
how he answered questions about the telephone surveillance program in March.

In March, Wyden asked Clapper whether the NSA
collects "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of
Americans?"

"No sir," Clapper said.

On Saturday, Clapper told NBC News that he answered
in the "most truthful or least most untruthful manner" possible.

Clapper told NBC that he had interpreted
"collection" to mean actually examining the materials gathered by the
NSA.

He previously told the National Journal he had
meant that "the NSA does not voyeuristically pore through U.S. citizens'
e-mails," but he did not mention e-mails at the hearing.

EU questions

Fallout over revelations about the NSA's
intelligence-gathering has reached the European Union's governing body, where
Vice President Viviane Reding raised concerns that the United States may have
targeted some of its citizens.

Reding said she plans to raise the issue during a
meeting Friday with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

"The respect for fundamental rights and the
rule of law are the foundations of the EU-U.S. relationship. This common
understanding has been, and must remain, the basis of cooperation between us in
the area of Justice," Reding, the EU commissioner for justice, said
Wednesday.

"Trust that the rule of law will be respected
is also essential to the stability and growth of the digital economy, including
transatlantic business. This is of paramount importance for individuals and
companies alike."